


Eraser

by kadytheredpanda



Category: Monster Allergy
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Gen, Tragedy, in which kady uploads oldass fics of hers, when the feeling's gone and you can't go on it's tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 05:26:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17074265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kadytheredpanda/pseuds/kadytheredpanda
Summary: Amnesia killed the real Elena.





	Eraser

**Author's Note:**

> Originally uploaded in 2007. This was my first MA fic (posted back when FF.Net didn't even have a MA section), as well as my most popular. People loved this thing. Now, if it's because MA fics were so scarce, I dunno. But love it they did. I'm posting it here for that reason.

It was his fault.

It was his fault.

The words repeated in his mind over and over again like an anti-PBA as he came closer to the door. Step by step, the sentence boomed louder and louder.

In the short distance between his and her house, the scene that caused the further hell in the existence he called life played for what appeared to be the thousandth time.

Why? Ezekiel Zick thought. Why didn't I catch her before she fell?

He could remember that day like it had happened just yesterday. Elena and he were in her room, just simply socializing for once. It was hot that day, so his friend had decided to open the window. She managed to avoid the toy Purrcy had left on the floor as she went over to her window and opened it, but, as she was still talking to Zick, tripped on it. She took a step back and tried to break her fall, but nothing worked. It happened so quickly that by the time Zick attempted to stop her, it was too late. As he ran towards the window, he heard her scream until she landed on the concrete with a "thud" sound. Panicking, he looked out and saw Elena Potato unconscious on the concrete; some blood appeared to be coming out of her head. Zick was sure he had accidentally her as she was being brought to the hospital.

But miraculously, Elena had just barely survived the second story fall. Unfortunately, that also meant that she not only suffered a concussion, but also slipped into a coma. Brain damage was possible. Unless he was extremely sick, he visited her room everyday for her entire month-long stay in the hospital. Each time, he would sit down near her hospital bed, tell her what happened to him that day, and most importantly, say an apology for almost killing her.

Then on day thirty-one, something amazing happened. It began when Zick heard a slight movement where his friend was lying unconscious; a nurse was not present. Looking up, he noticed movement as she started turning her body to the side towards him. Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Although disappointed, Zick continued to stare at her, hoping for more movement. His wish came true—she soon started to move again. A nurse had come into the room as it was happening and ran off to grab the doctor, but until her parents arrived, it was just him and her. As the pained movement became more frequent, a kind of grunting sound emitted from her. And finally after a period of time, still groaning and moving only slightly in her hospital bed, Elena Potato opened her eyes for the first time in a long while.

"ELENA!" he yelled, coming closer to her. "You're alive! Oh, Elena, I'm so sorry…"

Elena, however, gave him a perplexed expression when she slowly turned her head towards him. "Huh?"

"Elena, it's me…"

"Me? I don't know a Me… And why are you calling me Elena?"

"Because it's your name…"

"No, it's not…"

Zick frowned. "Look, Elena, this is not funny!"

"My name's not Elena! I don't even know what it really is, but I know for sure it's not Elena! And I've never even seen you in my entire life!"

"Quit it, Elena! You're starting to scare me!"

It was then that she started to cry. "You're the one that should quit! You're mean!" were the last words she said before she started bawling.

Zick shut himself up and his eyes widened. Now he knew this was not a cruel practical joke.

"Elena… I'm sorry! Really, I am! I didn't know…"

0000

Zick did not learn just how bad his friend's memory loss was until the doctor had a chance to examine her further. It turned out it was severe. Friends. Childhood memories. Family. All of it was gone. He also said to try to recover as much of her memory as possible, although it would be impossible for her to completely retrieve every scrap of memory. Even if she only recovered little of it, it would be worth it.

After a lengthy discussion over how to deal with Elena's situation, it was decided upon just how rehabilitation would be done. Elena would reenter Kindergarten and, depending on how well she had progressed, would eventually go back to her true grade as she relearned as much she could in each grade. The Potatoes were to help her recognize family friends and members.

Zick seemed to have the most tasks. Among other things, he was supposed to help her relearn how to operate most electrical appliances and how to get around town.

And that was why he was at the Potato residence.

He rang the doorbell and stood in front of the door. A few moments, a tired Missus Potato opened the door with a novel in her hand.

"Hello, Zick," she said, giving him the best smile she could in the situation. "Elena's been waiting for you upstairs in her room."

"Thanks," Zick sighed as he went inside the house and went up the staircase to his destination.

As he was getting warmer to the site of the accident, a random memory popped up; it was the day she learned to spell, write, and read her first and last name.

"See it? You see it? E-L-E-N-A P-O-T-A-T-O," he remembered her saying with a huge grin as she showed the script to him. "That spells my name, Elena Potato! Isn't that a funny name?"

In response, Zick only nodded his head and replied a half-hearted "Yes." He knew he should have been prouder than she was (but he still was proud in the first place), but something horribly wrong about Elena's character had just been displayed before him. The Elena he knew was not extremely fond of her surname, especially when people made fun of it. It was like Elena- the real Elena- had been killed the day of the accident, and a clone that did not do her research had replaced her…

Zick made sure to stop what silent crying he had done and to destroy any evidence of it before he opened the door. After his attempt to freshen up, he knocked twice and said, "Elena, it's me…"

The response was immediate: there was the sound of footsteps, then the violent swing of a door, and, before he knew it, the feeling of Elena's arms slowly starting to break his ribcage.

"BLUE!" she yelled, calling him by the name she came up with the day she learned her primary colors; the name that preceded it was merely "Me," what Zick identified himself with the first time he talked to her after the accident.

It should be noted before resuming that for some reason that Zick had yet to recognize, Elena could not remember his name. She could recall her family and even his own aunt's name from memory, but not his. Everyday, he would try to have her call him by name, but each effort came out fruitless…

Elena let go of him, and asked: "How are you?"

Zick took a big breath, which he needed after nearly being crushed to death by his friend, and said, "Fine…"

"Great! Can we go out now?"

"Sure…"

0000

Elena's daily tour through Oldmill quickly became the same as the others. Zick knew there would be trouble the second a frustrated Elena asked him:

"Why isn't my bike moving like yours?"

Zick got off and went towards Elena's. Looking down, he noticed—

"The kickstand isn't up."

"Oh… Can you do it for me, Blue?"

Knowing what was to come, Zick sighed, crouched down until his knees were just inches from the ground, and pushed her kickstand up. Wobbling, Elena then started to tip over towards him; he managed to break her fall in time just about perfectly.

Not counting school, where the two of them often went anyway, there were two places Zick did not want to take Elena: Bigburg and his home, known in the monster world was the Barrymore Detention Oasis. His and her parents agreed on the former, since it could be extremely dangerous for both the usual big city reasons and, in Zick's case, the base of an especially treacherous monster… As for the latter, it was because Elena almost had a nervous breakdown the first time she saw the monsters invisible to her's antics. The fiasco resulted in Zick having to come up with a lie in place of anything monster related; sometimes it was going to the doctor's to treat a broken bone, other times it was he was playing golf. On the plus side, at least she knew what a hole in one was…

The park took up the bulk of the tour; this was partly because quite a few of their pre-accident adventures took place in and around the area, partly due to its massive size. Every time they came across something, Zick followed the same procedure. He would ask her a question concerning, such as, "Is the river dangerous?" she would think it over for a minute and then either nod or shake her head and reply (usually correctly), "yes" or "no."

The correct answers, however, would end as it was nearing sundown and time to go home. They would stop riding just outside of the entrance and Elena would be asked the usual question: "Now which direction is the way home, Elena?" After a period of confused stares, tears of frustration would start to roll down the girl's cheeks, Zick would give up trying and ride back home with her closely behind.

0000

Exhausted, both of them stopped just outside of Elena's house. Zick got off, and looked towards Elena.

"Do you remember how to get off, Elena?"

"One leg over?"

"Yup."

Slowly, the girl lifted her right leg and tried to move it to the other side. She started to wobble…

"ELENA!"

The next thing Zick knew, Elena, hands still on the handlebars, was in his arms. Elena let her feet drop to the ground, let go of them, and hugged Zick.

"Thank you, Blue! You're a good friend!"

Zick returned the hug. He was happy he was allowed to hug his best friend, but a small part of him wished Elena would see him as more than the blue-haired boy that showed her around town and saved her when she was falling to the ground from a bicycle. Even before the memory loss, that part of him wanted to divulge to the rest of himself a secret he had been essentially keeping from even from himself; he had the felling it also had to do with her…

Elena ended his train of thought. "Do you want to go in?"

Zick released his hold of her. "Oh, sure… But only for a few minutes, okay?"

0000

"We're having spaghetti tonight," Elena asked. "Is it good?"

"Yeah…"

The two kids had wound up in Elena's bedroom. As they sat cross-legged on her bed with Purrcy on her lap, Zick decided it was time to try to doing another daily procedure of his before he had to leave for the day…

"Um, Elena, what's my name?"

She laughed. "Blue, of course!"

"It isn't, actually. If it really was my name, it would be like your parents calling you, um… Sweet Potato."

She frowned. "Oh… What is it, then?"

"Ezekiel… But you can call me Zick. Can you say 'Zick'?"

Elena nodded.

"Okay, what is it then?"

His friend paused for a minute. "Um… Blue!"

"No, it's Zick!" He pointed to himself and said slowly (and feeling like an idiot at the same time), "Zick…"

It happened again. "Um… Blue?"

"Zick…"

Elena looked down at the fat cat curled up in her lap, and looked back at the boy. "Uh, uh…"

"ZICK!" Elena's mother called from downstairs. "Your mom just called! She wants you to come home now!"

"Okay!"

Zick got up from his spot. Sighing, he told her, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow after school… Bye…"

Elena weakly waved at him as he left the room. "Bye…"

When she heard the front door swing open and close, she tried to remember the name her friend tried to have her memorize. She knew she would most likely forget it by the time he came over, she had to try…

"Z… Z… Zick…"


End file.
